CSU, Chico's Strategic Plan for
the Future

Today Decides Tomorrow reads
the inscription above the doors of Kendall Hall at the CSU,
Chico campus. It is the motto of a university that focuses
on the future while carrying forward the best of its past.

In this extract from the booklet The Strategic Plan for the
Future of CSU, Chico, the full text of which may be requested
from the Presidents or Provosts offices, we share
our vision of that future. We highlight the actions we propose
to take today so that tomorrow we may find ourselves in that
envisioned future. The Plan is a work in progress
and represents one phase in our ongoing efforts to position
CSU, Chico to meet changing and often elusive internal and
external challenges.

The Strategic Plan for the Future of CSU, Chico,
contains both our vision
of the kind of institution we hope CSU, Chico can become and
a set of reasonable steps to take in getting there. Our first
priority is our students.

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our Priorities

California
State University, Chico sees its unique residential situation
as an opportunity to create an intensive, high quality learning
environment. We are able to create a vital and collaborative
community of active and involved students. We have a well-respected
and caring faculty, a superior support staff, and innovative
leadership together with cutting- edge learning and information
resourcesall placed within a beautiful and engaging
physical environment. In such an enriched community, we hope
to stimulate intellectual rigor, moral development, and creative
accomplishment and to evoke callings to imaginative citizenship
in the world beyond the university. We aspire to be the university
of choice for all those seeking these strengths.

California State University, Chico
is a comprehensive university serving Northern California
and other regions of the state, as well as the nation and
the world, through instruction, research, and public service.

Our first priority is the education of our students by creating
and maintaining selected quality undergraduate and graduate
programs. We will be known for the purposeful integration
of liberal and applied learning that provides our students
with the knowledge, skills, and moral and intellectual virtues
that form the basis for life-long learning and contribution.

We affirm the importance of scholarship and public service.
We support the exploration of the frontiers of knowledge,
the integration of ideas, the connecting of thought to action,
and the inspiring of students.

We make the results of these academic efforts available for
public scrutiny by all our constituents. We will maintain
extensive continuing education and public service programs
that serve the needs of our varied constituencies.

1 Believing in the primacy
of student learning, we will continue to develop high quality
learning environments both in and outside of the classroom.
With one of the highest graduation rates in the CSU system,
our residential campus has, for many years, attracted and
retained students who report high levels of satisfaction with
the quality of life they can create while they are students.
Opportunities for intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual,
and physical growth abound, not only for students, but also
for faculty, staff, and the community. Our commitment to education
as a way of life, both in and outside of the classroom, and
our commitment to developing systems of learning assessment
that enable students to demonstrate learning in both courses
and programs (The Cornerstones Report, Principle 1b,
page 6) remain our highest priorities.

2 Believing in the importance
of faculty and staff, and their role in student success, we
will continue to invest in faculty and staff development.
CSU, Chico and the CSU recognize that faculty scholarship,
research and creative activity are essential components of.
. . its primary mission (The Cornerstones Report, Principle
4, p. 8). To that end, we seek to create a community of faculty
and staff dedicated to the creation of high quality learning
environments in and outside of the classroom.

3 Believing
in the value of the wise use of new technologies in learning
and teaching, we will continue to provide the technology,
the related training, and the support needed to create high
quality learning environments both in and outside of the classroom.CSU, Chico, a pioneer in distance education and a leader
in information and instructional technology, has a history
of offering faculty, staff, and students up-to-date curriculum,
equipment, and technological services. It also has an excellent
record of partnerships with corporate leaders that enrich
the learning environment and open career doors for students.

4 Believing
in the value of service to others, we will continue to serve
the educational, cultural, and economic needs of Northern
California.CSU, Chico, an anchor institution in Northern California,
has an outstanding record of collaboration with community
and regional partners in education and business. We are also
known for our contributions to the fine and performing arts
and our long history of service to the community.

5 Believing that we are accountable to the people
of the State of California, we will continue to diversify
our sources of revenue and manage the resources entrusted
to us.CSU, Chico acknowledges, ensures, and documents
that it is fully accountable to the people of the State of
California (The Cornerstones Report, Principle 7a, p.
15) by identifying performance goals and indicators to help
build high quality curricula, facilities, personnel, university
relations, and a sound financial plan.